We Covet Your Prayers

Please pray that the Lord will lead our BMA churches in responding to the needs of our brothers and sisters in the country of Georgia. Specifically lift up Bro. Anatoly Krivov who ministers in the province of S. Ossetia. The churches he serves are in the town of Tskhinvali and the Georgian and Ossetian villages which surround it. These towns and villages have been devastated by the recent conflict. There have been great losses of life and property. In addition please pray for the Baptist church in Gori, Georgia and it's pastor, Bro. Vissarion, who has been successful in church planting in this area. This town has been occupied by Russian troops. The well-being of church members and their property is in question.

Pray for Coleen as she continues to hold "faith-booking" classes in churches and camps of Ukraine. Faith-booking is a means of documenting one's faith which can be a powerful witness to relatives and friends. Since Ukrainians always pull out the photo album for guests, Christians here can pull out their faith-book.

Bro. Justin Owens and I have planned a trip to Tallinn, Estonia from October 10 through 17. Please pray that God will prepare the hearts of those with whom we will meet. Bro. Justin is following the Lord in responding to a special burden God has given him for this country, where there are very few Baptist churches. Please also remember Crystal Owens that she and the baby she is carrying will be healthy and blessed during Justin's absence next month.

Bro. Charles Speer and I will be working with Ukrainian national missionary Bro. Pavel Pochapsky from September 18 through 24. Please pray that God will lead us in accomplishing his vision of planting 62 churches in the 62 villages of his region. In addition we have trained many men for work in the prisons of his province. Please pray that we will be able to begin a Bible training program this fall in several prisons. We ask you to join us in prayer that this will spread to many other Ukrainian provinces.

At the end of September I will be traveling again to teach the second installment of Romans to our friends from the underground churches of Iran. Please pray for my thorough preparation in advance, and that I will be sensitive to God's unique plan for this conference and it's participants. Jeff

Jeff's Experience in the Georgia Conflict

Jesus told us there will be wars and rumors of war until he comes. That God is in control and is the one and only true judge, well this is our remaining comfort when wars and cruelty seem to take us like a flood.

As to Georgia, I am amazed at God's protecting hand. Our plans to visit Gori had been in place for maybe 6 months. We arrived there Thursday evening, the 7th. That night Dr. Ralph and others heard shelling throughout the night. I heard only a lot of loud rumbling. (I had a noisey air conditioner that someone had apparently taken off a Motel 8 in Mobile, Alabama back in '73.) The next morning Dr. Ralph and I were in the Gori drug store buying medicines when we heard a loud explosion, shaking the building. At the same time the lights went off. The workers began calling their families on cell phones and outside we saw people rushing to and fro. Within minutes the streets were filled with cars and there was a general panic.

When we rejoined the van with the team, Jim Earl, a doctor's assistant on our team, told us how he saw the Russian fighter plane swoop down and release a bomb into the city stadium. The windows where he was standing were shattered, and he said later his ears still hurt from the explosion. Other than that we suffered no harm during the trip. We went to E. Georgia that same day, and the following day traveled by bus to Yerevan, Armenia as the International airport at Tbilsi was now closed.

Bro. Vissarion, pastor of the church in Gori managed to escape with his family. Temporarily, he is living with our missionary to South Ossetia, Bro. Anatoly, who lives in Tbilisi. Bro. Anatoly has been shepherding churches in Tskhinvali and surrounding Georgian and Ossetian villages. They are now essentially in ruins. Please pray for our brothers and sisters whose homes and belongings in Gori are subject to looting and destruction. It is not only Russians, but many Ossetian "irregulars" who are also still occupying this city.

You ask about the propaganda from Russia. It is true that Georgians have been guilty of repressing Ossetians in the past, and probably vice versa. I am not convinced that Georgia was trying to commit "genocide". This sounds more like a justification for Russian military action. On the other hand, I wasn't in South Ossetia itself, so I can't say. I doubt that even the most unbiased observers will ever be able to fully establish the truth. Try to convince the average Russian citizen that there was no ethnic cleansing by the Georgians. Your efforts would be in vain. You will do better to agree there is evil afoot and quickly turn the conversation to Christ.

A video from the You Tube link that was sent to me of a young Russian man portrays persuasively the Russian media's view of the conflict: Russia is the compassionate protector of the poor abused Ossetians. The unnamed Russian in the video does not mention the fact that Russia has issued passports to the Ossetians, calling them "our citizens". Over the last several years they have armed them, giving them the ability to wage war in their own right. All of this was done inside Georgia's internationally recognized borders. What if Canada (or China) did the same for one of our Indian tribes?

Where I think this gets sticky is that Georgia through hateful, unforgiving attitudes, has not done right by their minority populations, and in some sense has "asked for" someone's intervention. Given the presence of a new major pipeline through Georgia, a young new president, and a strong shift to western politics, Russia's hackles have been raised. They were more than ready to play the role of the great defenders of the Abkhazians and the Ossetians. The Russian people have been fed this line through all their media channels and virtually all of them believe it is true.

In this conflict Russia, Georgia, and America all have their agendas, and rich natural resources play heavily into this picture, notwithstanding minorities and borders. The tragedy is that many Ossetians and Georgians who have lived in S. Ossetia for generations have been killed, their homes destroyed, and the survivors are forced from their homes and farms and are living in refugee camps.

There are no "hero" nations in this conflict, much as we like to see ourselves with white hats. We must pray for the victims and do all we can to re-establish peace in the region. As believers we must do this first on our knees as per 1 Tim 2.

Thanks for being there and for caring. Thanks especially for your prayers for us and for our Georgian and Ossetian brothers and sisters, who are going through such a great trial of their faith.

Bro. Jeff

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;
the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.
The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;
he will bless him in the land
and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. Ps 41:1-2

Jeff Franks

For those of you who haven't met him, this is my dear husband Jeff. This picture was taken as he toured with Jaime Jorge. He had the joyful privilege, as you can see from this picture, of introducing Jaime in all 11 churches they toured throughout western Ukraine. He even briefly shared the Word in a few, one of the things he takes joy in doing. Jeff is fluent in the Russian language and acted as Jaime's interpreter for some of the trip. In western Ukraine they had a translator who spoke Ukrainian.

Over the years, Jaime has played his violin in a variety of settings, from high school auditoriums to churches to the world-renowned Carnegie Hall. He has performed before heads of state and other government officials around the world, including the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Russia. He averages more than 75 concerts annually, performing for over half a million people each year—sometimes as many as 44,000 in a single performance.
While there certainly aren't 44,000 here, this was a very full church auditorium in Kiev, Ukraine.

Summer Activities - Jaime Jorge, Violinist

To catch up on some of our summer activities I will start to show you things that have already happened, but just didn't have time to get it in the blog.

Jaime Jorge was here in June to do a concert/evangelism tour. Jaime’s expressive mastery of the violin has delighted audiences around the globe. A committed Christian, Jaime has dedicated his unique talent to sharing God’s love through sacred/classical concerts and special appearances.

Born in Cuba in 1970, Jaime began violin studies at the age of five. When he was ten, Jaime’s family immigrated to the United States, and he began lessons with the eminent violinist Cyrss Forough, a student of the great David Oistrakh.

Since 1988, Jaime has traveled over a million and a half air miles.

Testimony of God's Grace

On Monday Jeff and the team went to look for tickets. They all got tickets via Europe, but Jeff and went to lunch. Afterward, Jeff went to find a ticket to Ukraine. This was on the 11th and they told him there was nothing available until the 19th. Which would have meant sitting around paying for a hotel room for eight days. But God in his mercy sent someone in just as Jeff was there to return a ticket. That reduced his wait time to only two days. He will fly in tonight at 11:15. Thank you for your prayers. Our God is great.

Leaving Armenia

Today the medical team went in search of tickets. Lufthansa couldn't give them any credit on their Georgia tickets and some had to pay $2300 to $3000 one way. There may be the possibility of some remuneration from Lufthansa later, but Jeff was skeptical. Since each of these team members pay for their own tickets it can be quite a burden.

Yerevan, the capital of Armenia is flooding with people trying to escape Georgia. They are all going there because it is the only safe crossing out of Georgia and all traveling by bus and auto. There are many more Americans and Europeans who have left Tbilisi and other parts of Georgia all trying to get passage out. Thus the reason for very expensive tickets as flights are all filled up until the 19th of August. Our team will leave tomorrow morning at 2 a.m. That will be 6 p.m. CST today. Please pray for their safe travel and a sense of peace. Jeff has yet to get a flight home.

Georgian Conflict

Jeff and the BMMI team attended church services today in Yerevan, Armenia. All is well with them. They feel like they got out of Georgia just in time. Tomorrow they will be trying to rearrange tickets without having to buy new ones. Please pray that the Lord would dispose the hearts of the ticket office Lufthansa and for Jeff's ticket as well.

The situation between Georgia and Russia really boils down to cold war sentiment on the part of Russia that has never gone away. Russia wants to dominate as a world power. They were weakened through the fall of the USSR, but have risen from the ashes. This is a time when our prayers are critical. This type of conflict is something that could bring about world involvement if it escalates very far. And we thought Iraq was messy. For more on this check out the following: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/georgia-latest.html

Yerevan, Armenia

Jeff just called (it is almost 10:30 pm here) and they have all arrived safely in Yerevan. His phone battery died on the road. They will stay until Monday to rearrange tickets. Thank you for your prayers. Only God in heaven knows how your petitions may have protected them.

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace. Num 6:24-26

Gori, Georgia

I have not heard from Jeff since about noon today (here in Ukraine we are 8 hours difference from Central Standard Time in the U.S. and Jeff is one hour later than us so I'm writing this at 10 p.m in the evening here). I can only assume he doesn't have signal where he is. He mentioned a lot of infrastructure was breaking down due to the bombing and there was no internet or land phone lines. We have been doing sms messages and occasionally we could get through on calling, but have not been able to do that since early today. I am so grateful for those of you who are praying. I hope to hear something soon.

Overnight, the town of Gori, where our team started out, was bombed and 60 people died. Sadly one of the bombs hit an apartment complex. Pray for Gori and it's people. We have brothers and sisters there.

As for Leah and I, we trust in the One who holds it all in His Hands. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him." Rom 15:13 (NIV)

Georgia Declares War Against Russia Today

This morning I spoke to Jeff as they were on their way to Tbilisi, the capital to see about flights out. On the European news it already said there were no European flights leaving Tbilisi except to Ukraine and Turkey. Therefore they have rented a van to drive them to Yerevan, Armenia where they can fly from. In the meantime, Georgia's parliment this morning declared war against Russia. The town of Gori (Stalin's birthplace) where the team was yesterday suffered bombing overnight and is now the front as it is close to South Ossetia (S.O.). The South Ossetian Republic is in the north of Georgia bordering Russia on it's north side. Gori is just south of the S.O. border. S.O. is a breakaway republic wanting their independence from Georgia because they are strongly Russian, yet they have always been part of Georgia.

This afternoon Jeff informed me that they have hired a van driver to take them to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia and closest place they could fly from. He said there are a lot of rumors about which roads are open and which bridges have been bombed. Russia is now bombing strategic spots around the country. According to BBC, government officials are evacuating Tbilisi. Pray for the team's safety as they travel.

On the Verge of War in Georgia

Jeff and the BMMI medical team left the conflict zone today. Tomorrow they will get up early and drive three hours to Tblisi, the capital to see if they can get flights. They are for certain sending out the women tomorrow, but possibly they might all be leaving if they can get flights. If they cannot get flights they will take a bus to Yerevan, Armenia and fly from there.

European News has reported 1400 deaths overnight in South Ossetia which is a breakaway Georgian republic where many Russian people live. Russia has claimed the perpetrators will not go unpunished. The Georgian president has ordered full mobilization but they are a small force against Russia. This certainly is a time for prayer.

They have no internet and much communication is down, but because Jeff bought a local Georgian phone chip we can call each other. Tonight they are without water where they are and it is very hot. Please pray that they will make wise decisions and that they will be safe.

Belichi Tent Camp

South Ossettia/Georgia Conflict

While I wanted to continue showing you camp pictures, I must take a break and ask you to pray for my husband Jeff and the Baptist Medical Missions International (BMMI) team who are all in the country of Georgia. This morning as they were preparing for their first day of seeing patients in the town of Gori (Stalin's birthplace), they heard a loud explosion. No one knew what this was about, but it had the whole town scurrying about. Later, at home in Ukraine, I heard on Russian news that a bomb had been dropped by a Russian plane on the stadium in Gori. Needless to say, the mission has moved out of this area to another part of Georgia. Please pray for resolution of this conflict and for the team's safety. Pray also that the Lord might use Jeff in resolving some conflict amongst the Baptist brothers of that country. May the Lord bless as you seek him.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15

Craft Class

Liza and Vika working on their camp scrapbooks. Some of the kids were so creative and made beautiful books to take home. All of them had the creation story and our verse for the day for each day of camp.

Sports in front of the church

In green camp t-shirts are Leah Franks (our daughter) and John Williams (of Conway, Arkansas) about to do sports with some of the older kids.

Craft Class

Ukrainian ladies helping the children. This year we did something different. Each child made a scrapbook that had the Bible lesson, verse (in English and Ukrainian) plus pictures for each day that went along with their lesson. In addition, we had photos of them, their classes, the pastor and activities. It will be a nice memory, but also built in is the idea of a witnessing tool that each child took home to show their parents and friends. We hope this will bring more into Sunday school in the fall.

Bethany Baptist Church of Bucha

This is where the Bucha camp took place for those of you who are curious. Bucha is located in a beautiful pine forest so it makes a lovely place to do camp.

Bucha Kid's Camp

Dan Williams of Conway, Arkansas was our camp pastor. We found him another job of keeping track of some of the little ones who needed extra attention. These three are some of the orphans from the Village of Hope who attended camp. Dan's wife Cindy also came and was our English teacher while their son John worked with Leah to do sports. What a fun time we all had with the kids.

Bucha Kid's Camp

After a hard morning of fun these little ones are ready for their snack. They had music, crafts, Bible lesson, sports and English lessons.

Kid's Camp

As I write, Dan and Cindy Williams, along with their son John are preparing to leave this Thursday for Ukraine. Pray for them and for us as we start kid's camp at our church in Bucha on Monday the 14th. Dan will be our camp pastor, Cindy will teach English and John will work with Leah in sports. We have an exciting week planned for the kids on the theme of Creation. We have 4 bases the kids rotate through; sports, English, music and crafts. This year we are doing albums as the craft. Every child will go home on Saturday with a book that illustrates the theme for the week (including a recap of each days message), verses for each day in English and Ukrainian, pictures of them, camp workers, all camp base groups, and various camp activities. At the end we will include pasted in a gospel tract so this will be a powerful witnessing tool under the guise of "showing off what I did at camp this year." Parents will keep these books forever as they will have photos of their kids, which parents don't have many of here.

Camp finishes on Saturday and then on Sunday the Williams start camp at Belichi. Poor Dan and Cindy, pray for their strength. They will be camping in tents at the river all week.

Prayer for Armenia and the Iranians

For those of you who pray this would be a good time to lift up Jeff before the throne of grace that God would give him wisdom and concentration as he trains the 10 Armenian pastors of of the capital city of Yerevan. They are all starting new church works in this big city. Jeff is with them as I write this. Following that he will be with our brothers and sisters from the underground church of Iran. They will be studying the book of Romans which Jeff is also preparing for (thus the request for wisdom and concentration). He will return home on the 17th of July only to go right into camp ministry. We try to get him some rest time inbetween events, but that is not always God's plan. Pray for his strength and energy. Summer is just a demanding time, but we have such a short time on earth to tell of His love.

Breathe on me breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what thou dost love,
And do what thou dost do.

Breathe on me breath of God,
Till I am wholly thine,
Till all this earthly part of me,
Glows with thy fire divine.

-- Edwin Hatch, 1835 – 1889

PRAYER REQUESTS

Mission:

Please pray for a new missionary, Bro. Sergey Skripnik, who has begun a church planting ministry in the Ternopol district, Ukraine's most unreached oblast.

Pray for the All-Ages Sunday School program in Ukraine, that God will continue to give the Baptist pastors here a vision for providing all their members with sound Bible teaching.

Jaime Jorge, the concert violinist and evangelist will be holding evangelism concerts in Ukrainian district capitals from June 15 through 22. Pray also for the Ukrainian churches to reach out to many lost people who will come to the concerts and hear the precious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Pray also for Bro. Jeff's preparation to train Armenian church planters and hold a Bible conference for Iranians next month (July). Please pray for the preparation for the English camps in July, in which Dan, Cindy and their son John Williams of Antioch Baptist Church in Conway, Arkansas will participate. Please pray for safety for all our travels.

Personal:

Please pray for our new grandson, Tripp, who was born in May to our daughter Sarah in Conway, Arkansas.

Many blessings,
Bro. Jeff

New Grandson, Jaime Jorge, Violinist and Leah's 21st BD

What a month. New grand baby boy, Tripp Morgan Jones, born May 22, 7.9 pounds and 19 inches, all doing well. I stayed a month to help as I could and returned last Wednesday.

Guest violinist, Jaime Jorge arrived on Thursday after me for a 10 day tour of Ukrainian churches. He really is an evangelist because he speaks testimony between playing his wonderful melodies. If you ever get the chance to hear him (he flies all over the world) it will be worth your time.

Then Saturday we had Leah's (our youngest daughter) 21st birthday. That was a party with special friends. She even had the happy birthday song played for her on violin.

Please pray for Jeff, Leah and Jaime as they pursue their Ukraine tour through many western Ukraine churches. Pray for their safety on the road, of course, but also that they would touch many hearts with the gospel message. As for me, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet of home, garden and my own bed. God bless you.

Concert Tour - Jaime Jorge

I will return to Ukraine on June 11th. On June 12th Jaime Jorge, a well known Christian violinist will arrive for an all-Ukraine musical tour. Jaime was here once before and toured in the Kiev area. He is gifted in music, but also he gives wonderful testimony between each number. Please pray that the Lord would use him mightily as he travels the country with Jeff and our daughter Leah. Pray for their travel safety for that 10 days and that God would be lifted up in the hearts of Ukrainians.

Comments

Your letters and comments are so appreciated and an encouragement. Please note that you can leave comments at the bottom of each blog where it says "0 comments," if there is something you'd like to communicate. My highest goal would be that God be glorified and you be enriched.

Armenia

In July Jeff will travel to Armenia to work with the "Yerevan 10." That means the ten missionaries that were selected to start new churches in the capital of Armenia which is Yerevan. He has already done several trainings with these men and the Lord blesses each time with a further bonding of friendship. Jeff is a gifted teacher and has a good way of drawing men into the whole training process so that he is not simply lecturing.

On the heels of that training, still in Yerevan, Jeff will meet with the missionaries from the underground churches of a nearby "no-access country." He has been training with these dear folks for some years now and this is their only formal training, to come out of this country into Armenia where Jeff teaches a different book of the Bible each time. This time it will be from Romans.

When Jeff is home he has many of the typical responsibilities of any pastor. He is considered the #2 pastor in the church so he preaches each Sunday plus he leads various groups and counsels. The phone and door bell are often ringing when Jeff is home. So, I ask that you will please pray for Jeff in the next weeks as he studies and prepares for what God would have him bring to the two groups in Armenia.

New Arrival - A Gift from Heaven

I am in Conway, Arkansas as I write helping my oldest daughter Sarah with her new baby boy, Tripp Morgan Jones. Tripp was born on May 22nd at 2:45 a.m. (yes, it was a late night), he was 20 inches long, 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and all fingers and toes. This is our third grandchild, but our first grandson. I can see he is going to be a lot of fun.

Given that we live so far away, there are many things we cannot do for our daughter/grandchildren, but attending the birth and helping for a month afterwards is something I can do. The children will grow up knowing grandma was there and held them after they were born. What a blessing for me.

Church in Novo Alekseyevka, Southern Ukraine

This is the beautiful little church where Jeff and I participated in a youth conference in early May. The funny thing is that the majority of the youth looked like they were our age and older. Jeff's topic was "How to find Love, Joy and Purpose in the Modern World." After the 5 hour conference we had lunch served by the church, followed by about 20 some youth and ladies who met to do the "Heritage of Faith" Scrapbooks. What a blessed time we had.
"I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember your wonders..." Ps. 77:11

Deaf ladies scrapbooking their faith

This is one of two classes I did at Simferopol Baptist Church in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine. The pastor's wife, Judy VanSant did the sign language interpretation for me.

Heritage of Faith Scrapbooks

Not long ago I had the privilege of leading three different groups of ladies in a process of documenting their faith. These books are an expression of one's faith and a testimony for family and future generations. The great grandchildren will see pictures of you, but how will they know what you believed if you do not write it down. What an opportunity to influence future generations. We all had a great time putting in the pictures and writing about what led to salvation, their baptism, who influenced them, how they pray, their church and its various events, etc. I even had a wonderful group of deaf ladies who did this. Thank you to all of you who have supported this ministry. I have been so blessed to see the response. All three classes want me to return in the fall to do another class. I suggested a scrapbook on "things we are grateful for" or a prayer journal/scrapbook. All glory and honor to Him who gives us grace.

Training Sunday school teachers

On Saturday the 26th of April I had the privilege of training Sunday school teachers at the Simferopol Baptist Church in the Crimea, Ukraine. We had about 10 teachers and we went through the reasons for using crafts as a tool for evangelism. They were all enthusiastic and we had a great time. I think most went away with a fresh understanding of how they can use this tool to reach children in a way that just storytelling will not do. God is the master Creator and we all have some of that in us. Children love to create and a verse on everything further leads to a witness in the home for those who see the child's creation. We had a great time and I'm glad for the opportunity to share this work for the benefit of the children of Ukraine.

Sacrifice of Love

A special thanks to the Women's Missionary Auxiliary (WMA) of Bethel Baptist Church in Cabot, Arkansas for their generous gathering of materials for a new ministry direction I have undertaken. In southern Ukraine on the 28th and 29th of April, then again May 3rd, I will do three separate seminars entitled "Heritage of Faith." These are for ladies to document their walk of faith through pictures, photographs, and story. They will be creating a scrapbook album that will be a witness of the steps along the path of Christian growth. It will be something they can show their unbelieving friends that will help them understand their faith. You see, in this culture, when friends get together, they often bring out the photo album to help break the ice. We have seen many photo albums when we have gone to visit in homes. So now I am helping people to make albums they can use to witness and will be a legacy for their children to understand their mothers Christian journey.
Thank you WMA of Bethel for your support in this. May the Lord bless you for your giving.

Jeff Returns from U.S. Prison Mission

Those who have prayed I give my heartfelt thanks. Jeff and the whole delegation of prison officials returned today tired, but well. Jeff is rejoicing over the whole affair and the state of the men who went. He said he saw some real changes and open hearts to the idea of ministry in their prisons.

Jeff also enjoyed a short visit with our two granddaughters Julia and Jordon, well and of course their mama, Sarah. Sarah was a real blessing to help Jeff run around and renew driver's licenses and other such mundane, but necessary tasks.

A Room for the Little Ones

Well, it has been a long time in coming, but at last we are starting to see the work turning into a children's nursery. Bethany Baptist Church of Bucha will soon be a place where young mother's can bring their little ones and still attend services. In the past when a new baby arrived usually no one would see the baby or the mother for at least the first 6 months. That has been the norm. Now that is changing. The walls have been painted in green and yellow like giant puzzle pieces and sub-flooring has been put down. Now there are two very important items needed for which we pray the Lord would provide. One is the need for a bio-toilet. This is needed because the nursery is located in a basement room too far from any plumbing and a bio-toilet is the least expensive and most logical answer. Bio-toilet is what you have in motor homes or sometimes at camp sites. It is all self-contained. The second item needed is flooring for this room.

If you would like to participate in this need you can mail contributions to the BMA of America, PO Box 30910, Little Rock, Arkansas 72260, labeling your check as "Bucha Nursery Room."

Little Church in the Village

A few weeks ago Leah asked me to accompany her to the church in Nova Zelesya where she has started a craft ministry. This is a tiny church in a tiny village. On the way in through the village we started praying for the church, the children, the ministry and the village. Leah said there could be just a couple kids or even up to 12. There is an orphanage in this village, but the teachers don't always want to bring the children to the church. Services started with two little girls. I always told Leah it didn't matter how many you had, work with what God gives you. Just before time to excuse the children for Sunday school in comes the orphanage group.

I enjoyed watching the Sunday school class. They did games, Bible story and crafts. The orphans are rather rowdy with no mom or dad to discipline them, but they all had a good time and went home with a craft that would be a reminder of Jesus.

Easter in Ukraine will be the last Sunday of April. Pray for this small church and the young pastor who leads it. He wants to see it grow and Leah has been helping with the children's ministry for over a month now. She is excited about helping a small church to grow. Lord bless.

Ukrainian Prison Delegation at Breakfast

Starting on left front is Bill Gothard from Institute of Basic Life Principles with Jeff Franks next to him. Beyond that is a mix of Americans and the Ukrainian prison delegation. While at the Chicago area institute Mr. Gothard gave a talk about the Seven Needs of All People. Afterward he led them in a prayer of salvation. They all prayed as Ukrainians are very obliging and would never refuse their host's request, but God knows who may actually have made a sincere prayer.

They have visited several prisons. Please pray that their hearts would be open to bringing the prison ministry they have seen back to each of their area prisons and that they would actually come to know God themselves. They will fly back to Ukraine on the 12th, arriving on the 13th.

Ukrainian Prison Delegation in Chicago

All these men are Ukrainians with the exception of the second from right on front row who is Bob Holyfield the host of the group. Jeff took the shot in front of Lake Michigan with Chicago skyline in background. Pray for these men as they travel this next week that God would open their eyes and hearts to the value of ministry in their prisons. Please also pray for Jeff's health as he is doing a lot of translating and his voice doesn't always hold up.

Ukraine Prison Warden Delegation to U.S.

From April 3 to April 12 I am accompanying a group of 9 officials from the Ukraine Department of Corrections to visit American Prisons for the purpose of seeing how Bible Study helps to lower the rate of recidivism (repeat offenders) in US prisons. This opportunity arose through the prison work of our BMA National Missionary Pavel Pochapsky and his work with Lt. Charles Speer of the Little Rock Police Department, then a member of Temple Baptist Church in Little Rock. The visits in the prisons are being coordinated by Prison Chaplain Bob Holyfield from the Institute in Basic Life Principles in Little Rock, AR. Please pray for the Ukrainian officials who are traveling with me and especially for Coleen and Leah who will remain in Ukraine during my absence.

Also, I ask you to pray for me that I will be filled with God's spirit of love, power and wisdom so that all eyes will be on, or in most cases turned to Jesus Christ. The souls of many Ukrainian prisoners await the Gospel. Keep them and the need for new churches in the prisons in your prayers as well. So much seems to depend on how these officials will respond. However, I believe Lord's response to your prayers will truly pave the way!

In His Love,

Bro. Jeff

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. Ps 41:1-2

Our Daughter, Leah

It seems like so little to say thank you for those who prayed for Leah when we were in the states, but we are very grateful for your prayers. For a time, while we were in the states, it was a question as to whether she would return with us or not. We were willing to trust God in how he led for her future, but we are pleased that she returned where she can continue with her education and has the support that will continue to direct her along a Godly path.

Back in Bucha

We have returned to the north of Ukraine. It is always good to be back in your own bed, though part of us didn't want to leave the Crimea where we long ago started a work. It was good to be in churches there and see the work they are doing.

Our director Jerry Kidd is now here so we will have a nice time of fellowship with him and the opportunity to discuss current mission work and future possibilities. Today he met a new missionary couple who will be BMA missionaries to an area in western Ukraine where there are no churches. A couple of Sunday school classes at First Baptist Church of Carthage, Texas have made this possible with support that will allow this couple to move and start a work in that region. We are so grateful to see God's moving in providing for this need. It was only a couple months ago the opportunity/need was presented to us and then almost immediately the Lord raised up a sponsor to send this young couple.

International Women's Day, March 8th

This is a holiday recognized all over Europe. Women are honored by husbands, children and friends. It is similar to our Mother's Day, but includes all women.

Simferopol Baptist Church was having a Women's Day banquet so I invited Tanya along with her 9 year old daughter, Anastasia. There was a good message of God's grace that I was happy for Tanya to hear. Even little Anastasia was very attentive.

The next day we went to the little church in Nikolaevka that meets in the old Soviet cultural center. Jeff and the pastor preached. I took some kid's prizes to give to the children's workers. Thank you to those who send beads and old jewelry. The woman was very pleased to receive the bracelets, key rings, frig magnets and doodads I made.

Sunday afternoon I invited Tanya, Anastasia and now, Tanya's son Maxim, to come to church at 2 p.m. in Simferopol, which all agreed. We even got to sing the song we sang for Women's Day in front of the whole church. What fun. We have witnessed to this family for a long time and ask your prayers for them. Our hope is that they will continue to attend this church after we are gone.

Alina Being Creative

Top: Alina and her handy work, Bottom: L-R Tanya (Alina's little sister), Coleen, that's me in the background in blue, Alina laying down, with her mom, Luda in the foreground. On the right side is Judy in back, cousin Luda and Pastor Bob.

Alina

Yesterday the Lord blessed Jeff and I so much with a trip to Simferopol to be with a young woman named Alina. She has been bed bound for 5 years with a bone condition that has her bones slowly disintegrating. It is a very sad situation, but at age 15, if you saw her countenance, you would have no idea there was any problem. That is the power of the Lord in one's life and the joy he can bring. I brought my beads and we made necklaces and bracelets with all the family members. Well, Jeff and Pastor Bob didn't want to make any, poor sports. There was a joyful spirit and lots of Russian conversation. We finished our time with tea and cookies before we said our good-byes along with promises to come again. Please pray for this lovely young lady.

Afterwords we had a nice dinner out with Bob and Judy. We discussed ideas of doing a seminar to train church workers in using crafts for evangelism, plus doing a Faith Scrapbook for the ladies when we return in late April.

The Little Church in Nikolaevka

Sunday morning awoke with drizzle on the windows, like mini-magnifying glasses distorting the view out our window. With the rain, and being Sunday, there was considerably fewer walking out front. By the time we left for services the rain had abated. Nikolaevka is not very big so we walked the five minutes to church.

Service was held in the run down Soviet community center, second floor, third door on the right. The members rent this room that is about 16' x 24'. It's pretty shabby, but no one seems to notice. Today we were able to share communion with this little church as is the tradition here on the first Sunday of each month. Bread is broken right there and all sip from one glass goblet.

It was a time of hugs and renewing friendships with many we've known since our arrival in '94, but hadn't seen since last year. We all sang, in Russian, then Jeff was the first to preach. He talked about Nicodemus asking how to be saved. The pastor gave his message followed by more singing and communion.

We were excited that Yevgenie (Eugene), whom we invited to attend, agreed to meet us at the church. Jeff has been sharing Christian literature and talking to him when we were here last year and this time as well. Please pray for him.

Grace to you. "At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2:10-11)

The Joy of God's Love

Today at Simferopol Baptist Church in the city of Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine we had 9 young ladies ages 14 to 30 along with Anastasia, a 4 year old who also participated (with a bit of help) in making bracelets and necklaces in celebration of God's love for us. I say in celebration of His love because, as I explained to them, the materials with which we worked came to us from people who love the Lord and understand about His love. Thus they pass on that love to us by sending those materials. Plus it was his love for them that even had them in the church in the first place. As they worked we talked about helping one another, about older helping younger and younger respecting and honoring those older. Lastly, I told them to remember God's love when they wore those things and I spoke to them about why as women God put the love of beauty into our hearts and how they were to use that to put beauty and love into the lives of those around them. Judy VanSant, the pastor's wife brought goodies to eat and made tea. Thank you for your prayers. The Lord blessed and it was a time of shared joy.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever should believe in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.." John 3"16

God's Beauty

Today is another day of study and preparation. Tomorrow we will go to Simferopol Baptist Church (about a 45 minute drive), Jeff will visit his good friend Bob Van Sant, the pastor, and I will be with his wife Judy and lead a class for young girls. Bob and Judy began the church for the deaf in Simferopol about 10 years ago. If you are interested in their history you can read about them here: http://bobandjudy.net/

I will make bracelets with the girls, but more importantly than that, I will talk to them about the Savior and all he has done for us. As the girls work to create something beautiful, I will speak to them of the beauty of God and how he gave us touches of beauty on earth as a foretaste of heaven. He put the love of beauty in our feminine hearts because he is the original author of all that is beautiful. And in expressing that beauty it is the Spirit's purpose that we use it to demonstrate our love for those around us. We do this by how we care for those God has brought into our lives, by how we keep our homes and by how we share His spirit with others. You see I am not talking about physical beauty in one's body, but of course, dressing neatly is part of showing honor to the Father and to one another. It really is all about God's beauty and glorifying Him.

Our Saturday begins with your Friday night, if you are in America, so when you go to bed please say a prayer for us. We need the Spirit's lifting to do anything of value at all.

Grace to you. Psalm 37:23-24 The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Why Crimea?

We are here for a specific purpose. Jeff is writing missionary training materials and preparing for his next mission trip to Armenia where he will do two events. The first is training Armenian missionaries and the second is to teach a Bible conference for believers from a closed Islamic regime. Jeff baptized nine people from an underground church last year who came out of one of these countries. This is a door God opened that we are very excited about and would appreciate your prayers.

We come to Crimea because it is a good place to hide out and not be daily, sometimes hourly, interrupted with demands that are normal on the mission field, but make getting certain tasks accomplished rather difficult. The quiet here is wonderful...until the local church discovers us, that is.

As for me, I am preparing for a girl's evangelism activity in Simferopol (Crimean Capitol) on Saturday. It will be in the Simferopol Bible Church with young girls. In addition I am preparing a pattern book to give to children's workers when I do trainings with them as I did recently with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). That event was just a few weeks ago. It was a CEF training for workers from eastern Europe. The training resulted in an invitation to Belarus to teach there and three other invitations for around Ukraine. My main purpose was to give workers a vision of the value of using crafts as a tool in their evangelism of children and their families. Praise God that He helped me to accomplish this.

Nikolaevka, The Crimea, Ukraine

Nikolaevka is a seaside resort. I say that tongue-in-cheek because it is just a sleepy little village on the shore of the Black Sea, but in summer, like mushrooms popping up after a rain, it comes alive with vendors catering to the vacationers who come here to enjoy the sea.

We arrived several days ago, but as mentioned earlier, there are communication problems that we are still working on. We hope to have that solved soon. Until then I won't be here much.

I have a funny memory of this place and our early times here. Our first seven months I had no language, we had no car and no phone, thus no computer contact. By that time, I was suffering from feelings of isolation and a bit depressed when we finally got a phone line. Then I could do email and felt like I'd gained new life. I was no longer cut off. Well, somehow, I guess through some visitors, the word got out in the village that we had a computer. From that, people conjured up the idea that we might be spies. I still laugh when I think of this, but you must remember that it was 1994 when we arrived, then computers were only in government buildings. Today that, of course, is not the case and upon arriving we discovered, in fact, that there are a couple of wi-fi hot spots in the neighborhood. Unfortunately not close enough to access. Welcome to the 21st Century Nikolaevka.

The Crimea is our destination tomorrow. The plan is to rise early and make the 14 drive in one day. I say the plan, so if we schedule leaving by 6 a.m. we might get out of here by 9. Leah will be here to hold down the fort as she's working in Kiev. It may be volunteer work, but it still is treated as a job and they need her. Praise the Lord for the opportunity.

The Crimea is a peninsula in the Black Sea on the southern edge of Ukraine. It used to belong to Russia, but Khrushchev had a Ukrainian wife and so they gifted it to Ukraine. Nonetheless, it still remains rather autonomous with their own government and capitol city Simferopol. The village of Nikolaevka sits on the western side of the Crimea and was our first mission home. It is the head village of what, in Soviet times, was a collective farm over seven other villages. The population is about 4,000 and it sits right on the Black Sea. The land there is quite flat (farmland, grapes and sunflowers) and uninteresting, but on the opposite side from us (on the east) there are lovely mountains. Occasionally we get over there.

When I say village, that word here, true to form is synonymous with backwards, behind the times, out of the loop. When we moved there in 1994 we heated with a wood/coal burning stove. Our first winter was pretty chilly inside, not so much from the cold weather, but from Jeff learning how to manage a good fire. Of course, I used my feminine rights and would nudge him (the man of the house) out of bed on the cold mornings to go start the fire again before we all had to face the frosty house. By the second winter he had it pretty well figured out. There really is an art to building a fire that will last all night long. Pretty sharp guy!

Well, since I have to finish packing, I will make this short, but while there I will tell you more about our early experiences in Nikolaevka. Oh, that is, remember I said village, if we have a good enough internet connection. That is always a big question. Too-taloo!

Some days on the mission field are about missions and some days are about working out the details of living. Today was one of those. Nothing happens fast or simply in Ukraine, but God uses these things to work on our character and for that we praise Him. Jeff went to the company who dug our well to find out why we still have poor water. While Jeff did that I was home with the plumbers who were taking care of the breakdowns that occurred while on furlough. Things are starting to work better Hallelujah!

Today Leah helped me organize scrapbook materials that arrived a few days ago. I must start making more examples for the classes I will be teaching. This evening Leah went to the leaders meeting for Yablonka. That is the name of a neighboring town where we have a church plant. It meets in a basement bomb shelter built in Soviet times. She works with youth girls on Saturdays there.

Our thanks to Ray and Becky Crawford of Carthage, Texas for how they so bless us along with Becky's Sunday school class for sending craft goodies. The children are so blessed and they have such joy in creating pretty things.

Thanks for your interest in coming here. God has taken good care of us and for that we praise Him. I hope to get some pictures on here in the future, but I have to figure out how to do that first.

Greetings

If this is your first time to visit our blog then we welcome you. You will find here some of the goings on of our day-to-day life as well as our mission work here in Ukraine and further abroad. We'll try to be serious for those of you who want to know seriously what is going on here, but we can't guarantee that this blog may not trip and fall into some silliness at times. After all, life is just too short to be serious all the time and if you can't have a little fun then things just get toooo boring.

OK, so this is Coleen writing. I'll probably be the one twisting your ear most of the time (well, I guess eye would be more appropriate) since Jeff is gone a lot or surgically attached to his computer trying to keep up with all the email. I do help with this as well, but some things the boss just has to do himself. As for Leah, well she has been pretty steeped in busyness herself, but we might be able to get her on now and then.

Now if you don't like what goes on here then you can blame Cindy Williams of Conway, Arkansas. Those of you who know this crazy lady will understand. She is the one who started all this. She sent us a blog address of one of her mannny kids, or so she thought, and it sent us directly to this "create a blog" site. Never did find the kid's site. Oh well, nice try Cindy! Now you know who to blame!

As many of you know we returned in mid-January from almost 6 months furlough in the U.S. We had a wonderful time, renewed many friendships, but sure came home (Bucha, Ukraine) tired. We always said we would rest when we got back to our own beds. However, a whirlwind of meetings and conferences was waiting for us. Now, a month later we are starting to adjust. Praise God for his mercy.

We are grateful to all who looked after us, friends and family, and for all the loving support we felt while there. What a joy, but bittersweet when you have to leave. Yes, we love all of you, but we are glad to finally be back in our own home.

Jeff started the day with one of our missionaries and a time of fellowship, reporting and prayer. Volodya is a really sharp, intelligent young man who is working to start new churches. Jeff is mentoring him and he has a sweet family with two young boys.

Later in the day Jeff went to the "banya" This is very much Ukrainian custom of steam bath. That was a time of fellowship for Jeff and Alyosha. Jeff has been mentoring Alyosha for many years. Alyosha was a former drug addict who got saved and is now in seminary and active in ministry.

With Jeff gone and our old Daihatsu trapped in the yard from the new fence built (without the gate yet) while in the U.S., I jumped a bus to the church this afternoon to meet one of the ladies there who came to help prepare crafts for Sunday school. Since it was only she and I, we had a good time of fellowship and I learned a lot about her and we got a lot done. PTL!